Russia, backed by China, has blocked an agreement on a UN Security Council statement aimed at quashing Iran's nuclear ambitions, diplomats say.
Senior officials from Germany and the US, Britain, France, Russia and China - the five veto-holding Security Council members - met for more than four hours on Monday to discuss how to handle Iran.
They were joined by ambassadors to the UN but were unable to agree on a draft statement from the Security Council telling Iran to stop uranium-enrichment efforts.
Nicholas Burns, the UN under-secretary of state, said after the meeting at the British UN mission in New York: "We remain convinced that we will see a presidential statement. It just may take a couple more days."
The statement has been under discussion for nearly two weeks already.
Russia and China are wary of action by the Security Council, which can impose sanctions, fearing that threats might escalate and prompt Iran to cut all contact with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.
Envoys, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Russia was toughest on provisions in a draft statement and that China backed Moscow. |
